Ganache

Preparation

1Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set oven temperature to 350 F.

2Combine butter and coconut butter in a bowl and mix with paddle or hand-held mixer on medium-high speed until both butters blend. Add sugar, vanilla extract, and freshly ground cardamon and continue mixing until mixture is smooth, light, and fluffy. Turn mixer off and scrape sides of bowl.

3Combine all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Stir to combine.

4Turn speed on mixer to low and add dry mixture to bowl. Continue mixing until dry ingredients are mixed well. Divide dough in half. Flatten each half and wrap with plastic paper. Place both pieces of dough in the freezer for about 10-15 minutes or until completely firm and chilled, but not frozen.

5Work the first chilled flattened piece of dough with hands until it's pliable, but not so much that it becomes soft and warm. Sprinkle four on working surface and place dough over it. Roll shortbread dough to 1/8"-1/4"thickness, sprinkling additional flour as needed on the dough and on the rolling pin and turning dough 90 degrees after each time it's rolled so that it doesn't become stuck to the surface. (An offset spatula or a bench scraper are tools that will allow you do this more efficiently).

6Use a 2" ring cutter to cut out rounds of dough and place cutouts on prepared sheet trays. Place dough cutouts on the sheet trays. Scrape left over dough and freeze or refrigerate until its completely chilled and ready to be rolled again. Place sheet tray in the refrigerator for about 20-30 minutes or until completely firm and chill. Repeat steps 5 and 6 and keep chilling and rolling dough until all of the dough gets rolled and cut out.

7Place trays in preheated oven for about 10-14 minutes, until edges are light golden brown, turning trays midway baking time. Place baking sheets on a cooling rack and allow to cool down completely.

8Place finely chopped chocolate in a bowl. In a small saucepan, heat heavy cream over low-medium heat until it comes to a simmer. Pour simmering cream over the chocolate. Whisk gently with a whisk or a spatula, starting at the center and working your way outwards. Stop stirring as soon as the cream is completely incorporated with the chocolate. Add coconut butter to ganache and gently stir just until coconut butter melts and is fully incorporated. Set aside for later use.

9Toast unsweetened shredded coconut into a small pan over medium heat, stirring occasionally for about 3-5 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Pour toasted coconut into a small bowl.

10Turn cookies over and set them into pairs on the tray so that you end up with a top piece and a bottom piece for each cookie sandwich. Spread (or pipe) about 2 teaspoons of ganache on the center of each cookie and place top piece over ganache. Press top cookie down so that ganache slightly leaks out of the edges. Repeat procedure until all cookies are filled and assembled.

11Roll assembled cookies one at a time in the shredded coconut so that coconut adheres to the ganache of the cookies.

Additional Notes

Three units are are offered for your convenience: grams, ounces, and volume units. Grams are the most exact units, followed by ounces, followed by volume units. You will need a scale if you choose to follow the recipe using grams or ounces.
Freshly ground spices are always better and tastier than already bought ground spices. Therefore, I recommend buying whole cardamom. First crush the cardamom pods enough to break them up so that the seeds are exposed. Make sure that all that is left are the seeds. Then transfer the cardamom seeds to a spice grinder or a mortar and pestle and grind until they're pulverized into a fine powder.